Half to james e



T. MIDGLEY.

WIREv BELTING.

(No Model.)

3o great wear and tear upon its working parts.

. UNITED STATES THOMAS MIDGLEY, OF .BEAVER FALLS, PENNSYLVANIA, `ASSIGNOR OF PATENT OFFICE.

ON E- HALF TO JAMES E. EMERSON, OF SAME PLACE;

WIRE BELTING.

vSPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 410,251, dated September 3, 1889.

Application filed July 15,.'1889.

T @ZZ whom t ntcty con/cern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS MIDGLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beaver Falls, in the county ot' Beaver and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire Belting; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to lo whichit appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to wire belting, and has especial reference to the construction of beltingt'or use in places where sudden heavy strains are produced by bringing heavy mar 5 chinery into use.

The stretched wire belting, for which' numerous patents have been granted, possesses the quality of flexibility, but it is not elastic, for the reason that the helices of which the 2o belt is composed have been stretched to their full extent, and each transverse section is seated in the' ends of the adjacent sections. Leather and rubber belts also possess the quality of flexibility, but they, like the stretched wire belt, are wanting in the quality of elasticity, and in each of the kinds of belts enumerated any sudden strain produced by the cause enumerated is transmitted to the engine or other driving-power, producing It is my purpose to provide a belt having the quality of being both flexible or pliable and sutliciently elastic or resilient to take up the strain now usually transmitted `by the 3 5 belt to the engine, and of sufficient strength, so that it will not stretch under the nominal load of the engine or the resistance of the machinery being driven.

Theinvention will behereinafter described,

4:3; and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, Figure l represents a plan of a section of coiled wire; Fig. 2, a plan of a section of belting composed ot two layers of sections of coiled wire; Fig. 3, an edge view showing the belting in its several stages of construction, and Fig. 4 is a similar view of a section of belting composed of several layers of sections of coiled wire.

Reference being had to the drawings and serial No. 317,537. (No modem the letters thereon, A indicates a section of coiled spring-tempered wire, made of various gages according .to the strength of the belt required. The pitch ot the spirals orhelices is made to afford space for each section to engage with two or more sections throughout the width of the belt, or sheet from which the belt is made, and to prevent the sections from being pressed down into each other when in use. The proper gage of wire and the pitch 6o of the spirals or helices having been determined, the wire is coiled into sections, as A,

of any desired length, and intertwined in two or more plies or layers, according `to the strength of belt required.

In intertwining the sections A in the lower layer of the sheet each section engages with two adjacent sections, and in the upper layer each section engages with one of the sections of the lower layer and with the two adjacent 7o sections in the upper layer, thus inakingeach section engage withthree other sections and form a union of the upper and lower layers.

In constructing a three-ply belt, or a belt of three layers of sections, each of the sections in the middle layer engages with one section in the lower layer, two in the middle layer, and one in the upper layer, making each section of the middle 4layer engage with four other sections in the belt. The -same 8o rule prevails in belts of any greater ply or number of layers of sections.

To form a working-edge on the belt, each section is cut oft one-half a coil alternately on opposite sides or edges of the belt, as S5 shown at ce c, and the protruding ends b b of an upper and a lower coil or section are bent over each other and back into the body cf the belt, thus securely locking the sections against disengagement and forming 9o a neat, smooth working-edge which will not tear the hand of a workman using onhandling the belt. `The ends of the belt, after having been stretched over pulleys or over the main drive-wheel of an engine and a pulley on the main shaft of a shop or factory, are. joined by intertwinin g two or more of the sec tions A in the manner the belt was formed, according to the number of layers in the belt, thus constituting an endless belt of uniform roo strength, and Without the interposit-ion of a lacingl or fastener of any material and in any form other than that of which the belt is cornposed. f

The belt may be shortened at any time by unlocking the bent ends b b of any sections at any point in the belt and unscrewing them from the belt, when the ends of the belt may again be joined and secured, as in the irstinstance.

In Fig. 4 is shown a belt of seven plies or layers of sections A, designed for use in hoisting and other machinery Where great strength is required. In this construction the sections A are secured together inwlayers, asin those hereinbefore described, and the edges are formed by cutting the ends of two of the layers of sections A oft' back in the body of the belt, as at d, and then folding or bending the ends b l) over each other in pairs, making three separate layers or rows of folds on each edge, the middle row being formed by bending the ends of adjacent sections in the middle layer. 'When the outer layer or working-sur.- face becomes Worn, it may be removed by unscrewing the sections A of the worn layer and inserting a layer of new sections, as in the original construction of the belt; or the belt may be used `for lighter work after the worn 3o layer of sections has been removed; or the belt may be reversed and worked on the opposite side from that which has become worn without removing the worn layer.

When iron pulleys are used, they should be covered with leather or coated with an adhesive substance, such as rubber.

I-Iaving thus fully described my invention, what I claim is 1. Wire belting composed of layers of intertwined transverse sections of coiled springtempered wire, having the ends ot' adjacent sections interlocked at the edge of the belt, substantially as described.

2. Wire belting composed of a plurality of layers of intertwined transverse sections of coiled Wire, having the edges of the belting formed of interlocked ends of the sections in one layer with the ends of the sections in an adjacent layer, substantially as described.

3. Wire belting composed of a plurality of layers of intertwined transverse sections of coiled Wire, the edges of the belting having a plurality of separate longitudinal layers or rows of interlocked ends of the sections of which the belting is composed, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signatn re in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS MIDGLEY.

Witnesses:

J. F. MERRIMAN, J. W. RAMsEY. 

